Catherine, I take it you have a shop? Either way, thanks for the info, even though it's rather bad news. I figured I might convince myself to pay half that much just because it looks like exactly the kind of shoe I'd find useful.

I work for the company that imports La Sportiva and while I usually steer clear of the forum and dislike being the bearer of bad news, I thought I should better let you know before you dream about them too much. Hand crafted Italian Footwear = lots of Moolah According to La Sportiva the shoes should last 10years (excluding sticky dot sole) and one of thier athletes has climbed 8a in a pair.One day in my next life, when I climb 8a, I will treat myself

how about you sponsor me a pair? Imagine the publicity if I can also climb a 8a with them! I will also try to convince all of my friends that they are the greatest shoes ever produced. I think roughly mmm... 1 of them might just be able to afford them Killer opportunity if you ask me...

he shorts, while you at it, maybe you can get somebody to sponsor you a balaclava while you are at it. would be nice not to look at you ugly mug while i'm belaying

a challenge to the importers: if i can pick up a pair of gandalfs in the US right now for $200 - thats R1700 roughly - why are we paying so much????? and that's for all gear! i can get a set of Black Diamond nuts (including postage and VAT) at R77 per nut at a US mail order shop..... why should i shop in SA????? come on guys, there's huge margins in clothing and gear - negotiate better terms for us Saffas.

mokanjetsi, here's the maths for you:R1,700 + 1/3 import duty on shoes + 14% VAT = R2,577.54. I assume catherine above is cathy from Outward Ventures, the La Sportiva importers for SA. She quoted R2,700. Probably not a coincidence because my calculation above doesn't include shipping to SA. In fact, SA prices are pretty similar to international prices. Many Europeans in fact find our retail prices cheaper. Then there is the constantly fluctuating Rand. Right now some items imported from the USA may be cheaper over there as the Rand has strengthened a lot against the US$ and the importers still have stock brought in at a higher exchange rate.

he robert - thanks for the math. i know about the 40% import duty on clothes - wasn't aware of 30% on shoes........ btw, how does it seem that major sports retailers can get adidas, rheebok, puma etc in a reasonable prices? i do not mean to grill you guys, but there is afterall no import duty on ropes, trad gear etc. i understand the exchange rate fluctuations etc, but the simple fact is that i have not bought any gear (except a rope) in SA the last 2 years - could get everything cheaper overseas (yep, US; NOT europe).

Why do retailers, when the exchange rate jumps, immediately put up the prices (anticipating the future cost of stock, ignoring the fact that they already bought the stuff at a certain rate), but when the exchange rate drops (like the ZAR/USD has done in the past months), they say they can't drop prices because they bought the stuff at the previously higher rate?

retailers don't make up the prices. the gear importers/wholesalers set the prices, we retailers buy from them and just pass the price changes along. so you need to ask that question to Warren from RAM, Cathy from Outward, Richard from Eiger (all of them read this forum). btw, we, as in CityROCK, also import gear (Evolv, BlueWater, etc) and the prices of our own imported items have already started coming down by quite a bit with the strengthening of the Rand over the last few months. some of the importers will argue that the pricing issue is made more complicated by accounting practices regarding inventory valuation, such as LIFO/FIFO, forward cover, etc. but yes subjectively i also feel that prices go up quicker than they tend to come down.

one thing that puts our retailers at a disadvantage is the relatively small client base and lower turnover - large US (& other) shops have regular clearance sales where the bargains fly. that said, i have bought evolvs on sale at city rock for a better price than anywhere else (so i lied about the rope only sjucks).

I am not a wholesaler or even an importer but I will hazard a go at the answer, seeing as the wholesalers problerbly don't know why they do it. The wholesaler makes a margin on goods imported, this is to cover his overheads and make a profit. The cost portion is then used to replace stock, if the exchange rate goes for a ball he needs to bring the replacement in at the new value, hence has to increase the price of the stock on hand. Unfortunatly the converse is not true, if he has stock on hand he has already paid that price and needs to keep his prices steady until the new shipment. It is here where they get to decide to screw us or not.

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